Visitors beat heat at beach a day after Earl

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, NC (WWAY) -- Many people thought Hurricane Earl was going to swoop in and ruin their Labor Day weekend here in the Cape Fear region. Instead, the sun was shining today, and there was not a cloud in the sky. Beachgoers say they couldn't ask for better weather.

"Earl was not as bad as everyone made him out to be. It was a lot of bark and no bite," Kahlid Nelson said while enjoying Wrightsville Beach.

Judging by the damage done, or lack thereof, Earl wasn't so big and bad. Nelson, a UNCW grad, now lives near Virginia Beach and was in town for an annual get together with his old college roommates. He said once he got word of earl he had no intentions of cancelling their reunion.

"We're going to ride it out. Definitely ride it out the storm," he said. "If anything, we were gonna get awesome waves out of it."

Unfortunately, Earl didn't make the best of waves for surfers at Wrightsville Beach. Red flags continue to fly, but that's not stopping people from enjoying their last weekend of summer.

"Just made a decision to come on out and give it a try, and it's great," Paul Quinn said, who lives in Raleigh and decided to hop in the car and make a day trip to Wrightsville Beach despite Earl's visit Thursday. "The weather people and meteorologist have a hard time determining what a hurricane's going to do, so it turned out good for us this time. We didn't have any damage or beach erosion, so it's great. We're going to have a great labor day weekend."

The waves at Wrightsville Beach got significantly smaller overnight, but lifeguards and Ocean Rescue say swimmers should stay close to shore because of the rip currents.

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